Benton Murdoch Spruance (June 25, 1904–December 6, 1967) was an American painter, printmaker and architect. A long-term faculty member and chair of the Arts Department at

Beaver College Arcadia University is a private university in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, with a Glenside mailing address. The university enrolls approximately 3,200 undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. The 94-acre (380,000 m2) Glenside cam ...

Glenside, Pennsylvania Glenside is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Cheltenham Township and Abington Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Northwest Philadelphia. The population was 7,737 at the 2020 census on a land area ...

, he subsequently chaired the Printmaking Department of the

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census. The city is the urb ...

. He became known as "the dean of Philadelphia lithographers", according to ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''.

Biography

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania on June 25, 1904, Spruance was employed as a clerk in an architect's office while pursuing architectural studies at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

."Benton M. Spruance Dies; Was Printmaker, Professor," ''Philadelphia Daily News'', December 7, 1967. During this time, he also taught himself to do graphic sketching. He was subsequently awarded a scholarship to the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

. Awarded two Cresson scholarships to pursue additional studies in Europe, he created his first lithograph while visiting Paris in 1928."Benton M. Spruance Is Dead at 63, Famed Artist, Lithographer," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', December 7, 1967. As a printmaker, Spruance was known for his innovations in color

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

with series of works relating to mythological and religious themes, as well as portraiture. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

. During the 1940s, he garnered two first place honors in competitions hosted by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. In 1941, he won the library's National Exhibition of American Lithography prize, and in 1948, he was awarded first prize at the library's Sixth National Exhibition of Current Prints. In 1959, his work was exhibited at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

along with that of George Harding and Schilli Maier in an exhibit organized by

Francis Quirk Francis Joseph Quirk (June 3, 1907 – February 5, 1974) was an American artist, educator, museum curator, and TV personality. He is best known for his paintings of Edgar Lee Masters and Carl Sandburg, as well as his affiliation with Lehigh Unive ...

. In 1965, he was awarded the

Philadelphia Art Alliance The Philadelphia Art Alliance at University of the Arts was a multidisciplinary arts center located in the Rittenhouse Square section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visual, ...

Medal of Achievement. After a thirty-three-year tenure at the Philadelphia College of Art, Spruance retired in 1967. That same year, the college hosted a retrospective of his work in September and early October. Featuring examples of the more than four hundred prints that he created throughout his career, more than half of the showcase was drawn from art that Spruance had created during the 1960s.Donohoe, "Contemporary Art: Minimalist Survey," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', September 24, 1967.

Death and funeral

Spruance died at the age of sixty-three at his home in the

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown () is an area in Northwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded by Palatines, Palatine, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough (Pennsylvania), borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, whi ...

neighborhood on December 6, 1967. His funeral was held on Friday, December 8 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill. He was survived by his wife, Winifred Glover Spruance, and stepsons Stephen Glover, of Chestnut Hill, and Peter Benton, of San Francisco, and one grandson.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spruance, Benton Murdoch 1904 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Painters from Philadelphia University of the Arts (Philadelphia) faculty 20th-century American printmakers Art competitors at the 1936 Summer Olympics 20th-century American male artists